


Who Are You, Really?

by Thisisarealtagwhy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam (mentioned) - Freeform, Biphobia, Coming Out, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lance's crush on Keith, Light Angst, M/M, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-22 13:54:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21303170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thisisarealtagwhy/pseuds/Thisisarealtagwhy
Summary: He'd always known that he'd liked both genders, it wasn't until his family moved to America that he discovered it was unusual... and his mamá, when she had found out she had merely smiled and whispered, "Mi hijo, you still like women yes? Then you can still love a man and marry a woman one day.”And just like that, he buries the truth until it rears its ugly head at Lance.(Lance coming out to his Spacedad)
Relationships: Lance & Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 100





	Who Are You, Really?

**Author's Note:**

> just lance coming out to Shiro and i guess the other way around, short and sweet.  
im highkey pissed abt what they did w adam and the cop out at the end of series bc shiro deserves happiness and all that but they couldn't show that :( ill die mad but anyways, at least it spawned such an amazing fan base ahahah
> 
> reinforcing that it's totally okay to be gay or elsewise!! regardless of whatever anyone thinks it's completely normal and natural. im a bi woman and i guess i don't receive that much hate for my sexuality except from my dad teehee. but anyways, stay safe and if familial homophobia is triggering at all for you then don't read.
> 
> anyways, i love voltron sm for its characters so have this dirt :'))

Lance shudders, even in the relative warmth of Blue, as she whispers and murmurs to him, even in the darkest parts of his mind that he inevitably finds himself slipping into, she tries to press warmth into his cooling sense of self.

_My pilot… is loved. _

Somehow, he can feel her presence in his mind and he welcomes it, shuddering through the weird sense of longing in his chest.

It’s not a big deal, everything’s fine, and if he tells himself that enough, maybe it won’t matter, perhaps eventually he will believe it to be true.

There’s something wrong with him, beyond illness, beyond the physical body linking him to the cosmos.

It had begun a long time, when his family had initially moved to America, that’s where he had learnt about different sexualities. His school even had a club, and until then, he’d thought that the way he felt about both girls and boys was normal – was something that everyone experienced.

He’d discovered that some people liked everyone, others only specific genders, and others didn’t like anyone at all.

It was all somewhat confusing, but Lance was more concerned with whether his feelings were normal.

Whilst the internet’s opinion had varied, the general consensus was that it was abnormal but not wrong.

He even had his first kiss with a gorgeous boy named Jakob, who’s luscious golden locks and piercing blue eyes had been enticing in the first place.

But, his personality is what had done it for Lance, he talked of the stars and constellations and Lance had been smitten, they conversed regularly, hanging out after dark to watch the stars peter across the sky.

One night Jakob had pressed his soft lips to Lance’s who briefly forgot how to breathe, pressing eagerly into the kiss.

When they had broken apart, Lance was satisfied, left wanting.

Soon after, Jakob moved away so Lance buried his heartbreak deep down and moved on as well.

Many years, he researched about people like him.

Unfortunately, nothing could remain secret, and he had forgotten to refresh his browsing history, hence leading to his mamá finding out the secret he had attempted to keep for the better part of his childhood.

But worse than the horror stories of parents and families kicking out their children for liking the same gender, his mamá had smiled and simply said, “_Mi hijo, _you still like women yes? Then you can still love a man and marry a woman one day.”

Her touch, once comforting, quickly turned oppressive and he shakily sucked in a breath through his heavy lungs, he couldn’t, _wouldn’t _lose his family so he endured.

And later on, his siblings, older than he and therefore wiser, Rachel and Marco had tightly hugged him, allowing him to cry into their arms.

“They’re wrong okay?” Rachel murmured into his unruly hair. “You can marry whoever the hell you want.”

“Even if they don’t support you, we will.” Marco added, his voice thick with emotion.

“Thank you.” He barely whispered.

From there on out, he had not spoken to anyone about his sexuality again, he didn’t want to be such a burden.

And then he’d attended the prestigious Galaxy Alliance Flight Academy, and he couldn’t be more smitten with the whole thing…

It was awesome! He was learning how to fly in space, and he couldn’t ask for a better team either.

And then he saw him… Keith Kogane, basically the bane of his very existence, he was _perfect, _and Lance was not.

His lithe body, purple eyes of swirling galaxies, even the stupid mullet adorning his stupid head. It was all beautiful, and Lance reacted the only way he knew to, by competing. He always had to compete for affection in his household of many needing love.

It was more than that though, he knew just how to elicit reactions from people, and Keith… he reacted best to competition.

But regardless of how hard he strived to be better, every instructor reminded him of it, would praise Keith in the highest regards for his piloting skills. Then they would look at him, tut and remind him that he was only here because Kogane had disciplinary issues.

So he hastened to put the image of the very attractive and unattainable Keith Kogane from his memory.

Hunk and Pidge were awesome, he loved them both dearly, and both knew, both knew that he was a bisexual disaster, and both still loved him despite that obvious flaw to his biological makeup.

“It doesn’t change anything, you’re amazing, even more amazing because now you’ve gotta make pick up lines for _everyone._” Hunk had whispered into his hair, and Pidge had given him a short hug, he knew that they didn’t like extended periods of contact so it was well appreciated.

Afterwards they had baked (or Hunk had – it was disastrous for Pidge to even try) and stayed up all night watching movies – even the detention they had received after they were late to class was worth it, he had gained two friends for life.

The acceptance had been good, he’d been steady as he was, Lance McClain, bisexual, accepted by his closest friends. 

And then Shiro had crashed into earth and consequently he had been chosen to pilot a super high-tech Alien space ship named Voltron.

Allura had initially taken his breath away before he recovered and began his mandatory flirting, even though it was rejected every, single time.

It helped him deal with the fact that not only was he piloting Voltron with Keith, but _Shiro, _who had remained his hero throughout the training program.

His feats… were insurmountable, and not only that, but he was highly attractive, in a soft but somewhat menacing way.

Either way, Lance looked up to him.

All the while, he maintained a healthy professional rivalry with Keith, one he worked extremely hard to maintain.

Especially considering that to pilot Voltron each had to bare their minds, to successfully link to one another, to maintain a strong connection and hence allow each other to access one another’s minds.

It was disconcerting for anyone to have such a deep intrinsic, intrusive hold inside his mind, and, a little scary considering he was sitting in a circle with Keith Kogane and Takashi Shirogane, both of which had been on his mind multiple times.

Hopefully they would have had the respect to not delve further into his mind.

But that had been ages ago, and he had mostly moved on, remaining a secret to the majority of the team.

Until now, he didn’t really know what had set it off, something about the alien planet had done it, seeing couples of what the Yurandian diplomat had explained were the same gender.

The planet Yuran did not have the same qualms about gender relations compared to earth. The familial bonds that they had… they were stronger than anything on earth, even if they looked oddly like moving rocks, they were emotionally stronger than any human.

And it had made something yearn so brightly in his heart that Lance thought he had long since buried, he wanted to hold someone’s hand without shame, he wanted to be able to marry a man if he wished and to present to his parents and not be judged for it.

He wanted to receive his parents affection even though there was something inherently wrong with him.

He had an awful feeling that his parents would not quite disown him… but rather pretend he did not exist. Or worse, not acknowledge his partner, and that would somehow hurt worse.

Of course, his siblings would support him, but to lose such an integral part of his essence… it would be disconcerting.

On the way back to the Castle of Lions, the others had been able to sense his longing, the pang in his heart.

Which is why when they landed in their separate hangars, Lance remained in Blue, she seemed to purr love and warmth to his very essence while he tried to muster the energy to face the others.

Unbidden, tears sprung to his eyes, he was _worthless, _why couldn’t he just like women like his parents wanted him to?

Why did he think like this?

A light tap on Blue’s cockpit had him snapping out of his reverie, hastily he wipes his tears away, he didn’t want anyone seeing him so weak.

Satisfied that his eyes had as little red as they would ever have, he gave Blue the signal to open up, he was ready to move on, “Lance, are you okay?” It was Shiro and the sight of him made Lance want to cry even more.

He tried smiling, to show their fearless leader that everything was fine but instead, unbidden, his lips curve downwards and tears begin to leak steadily downwards once more.

Shiro’s face contorts in worry and enters Blue, “Are you hurt? Do I need to ask Allura to set up a healing pod?”

Lance lets out a shaky laugh, if only it were that simple, “N-no.” His voice stutters over it, but he breathes it out anyway.

Shiro’s face makes a weird expression, indecipherable and he plops on the floor of Blue’s cockpit, patting the ground beside him, his arm open, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Lance moves hastily forward, he’s always been a tactile person, and the thought of getting a hug from Shiro… who is more of an older brother than ever makes him so homesick he almost is physically ill from it.

Lance waits a few beats, trying to collect his thoughts, trying to stop his embarrassing crying in front of their sturdy as a rock leader. Shiro’s shoulder is already collecting his moisture, but somehow, Lance knows he doesn’t care.

“Um.” He pauses, thinking of the best way to describe his actions, Shiro is amazing, but Lance doesn’t want to even consider losing him because of something like this. “Let’s say that I have a friend… he thinks he might be bisexual… but, his parents didn’t accept him for it. He thinks there must be something wrong with hin. He doesn’t know how to change it, and um, he saw a place where there were open same-sex genders and it might have upset him.”

Shiro lets out a shaky sigh, and pulls Lance closer, “Well, if I knew this friend of yours, I would tell them that it’s okay, acceptance takes time. It’s perfectly normal for them to like both genders.” Shiro is quiet for a few moments and when Lance thinks he’s done speaking, he continues, barely a whisper, “I would tell them to not be stupid, there’s nothing wrong with them to like both genders. And I would tell them that they’d be supported by others… in the same position as them.”

Lance’s eyes whip up to Shiro’s in shock, no way… he wasn’t saying what he thought he was… surely?

“Shiro?”

“I had a partner on Earth, Adam, he was amazing, but he wasn’t my first.” Shiro explains gently. “My first was when I was still a cadet, I introduced him to my parents, and they did not react well… they didn’t outright say it, but I knew they were disappointed. But, over the years I’d like to think they’ve grown accustomed to my… life-style.”

“You’re gay?” Lance whispers it, it doesn’t feel real, his hero… like him… or at least somewhat.

“Yeah, and it’s perfectly fine if you think you’re bisexual Lance, even if your parents don’t agree. I promise you that. We’ll always support you.” Shiro continues.

Lance stays still for a few moments, before he pulls Shiro closer in a hug, after a few moments he releases the older paladin and rises, he furiously wipes his eyes. “Thank you Shiro, for…”

“It’s fine, I understand what you’re going through.” Shiro rises as well, his knees weeping in relief.

“Still… you didn’t have to.”

Shiro’s chest rumbles as he chuckles, “Yes I did.” He pauses. “Does anyone else know?”

“Just Hunk and Pidge… kinda hard to miss when you’re living together.”

“I suppose it is.” Shiro says thoughtfully. “Well, if you never want to tell the rest of the team, I will respect you, but you know they will accept you for you.”

Lance smiles softly, “I know they will, I think I just need some time before I can tell them.”

“That’s fine too. No-one’s going to force you. Now let’s go, I heard Hunk was cooking tortillas.” Shiro says and leads the way from Lance’s lion.

Lance smiles to himself, finding out that Shiro of all people was similar to him… it was astonishing, and maybe now he could gather the strength to bring home a partner to his parents... 

He thinks of an idiot red paladin and smiles wider, maybe he _should _bridge that gap...


End file.
